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. fll S4 ^'^1 • SENATE Px^^'for 

J I No. 432 



SITES FOR PUBLIC BUILDINGS IN THE 
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA 



SPEECH BY SENATOR NATHAN B. SCOTT. OF WEST 

VIRGINIA, IN THE SENATE OF 'tHE UNITED 

STATES, CHAIRMAN OF THE COMMITTEE 

ON PUBLIC BUILDINGS AND GROUNDS 



ON SENATE BILL NO. 122 



ENTITLED "A BILL AUTHORIZING THE PURCHASE OF 

GROUND FOR THE ACCOMMODATION OF PUBLIC 

BUILDINGS FOR THE USE OF THE UNITED STATES 

GOVERNMENT, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES," 



DELIVERED IN THE UNITED STATES SENATE 
MONDAY. APRIL 13, 1908 



APRIL 13, 1908— Ordered to be printed 



WASHINGTON 

GOVERNMENT PRINl ING OFFICE 

1908 



353'/^ 



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'•■ ^• 

cxj O "f 



Ordered, That the address deUvered on the 13th instant by Mr. 
Scott on S. 122, "Authorizing the purchase of ground for the accom- 
modation of pubHc buildings for the use of United States, and for 
other purposes," be printed as a document. 
2 



0. ot D. 



SITES FOR PUBLIC BUILDINGS IN THE DISTRICT OF 

COLUMBIA. 



Mr. Scott. Mr. President, in accordance with the notice I gave on 
Thursday last, I now ask that Senate bill No. 122 be laid before the 
Senate. 

The Vice-President. The Chair lays before the Senate the bill 
referred to by the Senator from West Virginia, the title of which will 
be read by the Secretary. 

The Secretary. A bill (S. 122) authorizing the purchase of grounds 
for the accommodation of public buildings for the use of the Gov- 
ernment of the United States in the District of Columbia, and for 
other purposes. 

Mr. Scott. Mr. President, the most important question, in my 
opinion, confronting Congress in its relation to the work of the Gov- 
ernment itself in the District of Columbia is that of buildings in 
which that work can be conducted. Instead of compact structures 
in which the business of the various Departments can be carried on, 
the work of the Government is being scattered all over the city, and 
most unsatisfactory results follow. The amount of money spent by 
the Government for rental in the District of Columbia is increasing 
at an alarming ratio, and I think it is time that a halt should be 
called. Department buildings erected, and the clerical affairs of the 
Government carried on with dispatch and economy. 

It is a plain business proposition which I desire to bring to the 
attention of the Senate. No business man in the United States would 
hesitate one minute on a rent proposition of 2 per cent as opposed to 
5, 10, or 20 per cent. Neither would he hesitate on the proposition 
for proper, commodious, and connected offices in which to carry on his 
business. Where is the proprietor of a large department store who 
does not demand that all his wares shall be housed under one roof? 
He does not care to have his silk counters at one place and his Hnen 
goods shown in a building a mile away. Such a proprietor is aiming 
always at economy and the best results on the money invested. 
Should the Government act differently? Are we not here as the rep- 
resentatives of our States and our people to see that the moneys of tne 
Federal Government are carefully and economically expended and 
that the best results are obtained? Should we hold It to be economy 
and carefulness merely to refuse to make appropriations? Are we 
legislating for the best interests of our country when we go on record 
as opposed to an appropriation for buildings needed in the District of 
Columbia in which the work of the Federal Government is to be carried 
on? Do we really salve our consciences with the ointment of being 

9 



4 . SITES FOR PUBLIC BUILDINGS IN DISTEICT OF COLUMBIA. 

"watch dogs of the Treasury" and of always being on the alert to 
protect the interests of the people ? I wonder if we do ? For if we do, 
I fear we are resting in false security, and that some day our refusal to 
act fairly on plain business propositions will rise up to haunt us. For 
I think an alarming situation confronts us. 

During the fiscal year ending June 30, 1908, the Government will 
have spent for rent of buildings in the District of Columbia the sum 
of $415,622.03, or, in round numbers, $416,000. To show how the 
annual rental has been constantly increasing, I desire to present to the 
Senate the amounts so used for the past ten fiscal years: 

1897 $176, 144. 00 

1898 184, 346. 59 

1899 178, 585. 92 

1900 - 187, 615. 31 

1901 196, 205. 00 

1902 273, 219. 50 

1903 316, 249. 84 

1904 341, 236. 84 

1905 349, 266. 17 

1906 370, 123. 66 

1907 415, 622. 03 

These figures speak for themselves, and this table shows that each 
year there has been an increase, and unless several departmental 
buildings are erected it is not unreasonable to suppose that ten years 
from now over a million dollars will be spent annually in this city for 
rentals for Government purposes. 

Mr. FoRAKER. Mr. President, will the Senator allow me to ask him 
a question for information? 

The Vice-President. Does the Senator from West Virginia yield 
to the Senator from Ohio ? 

Mr. Scott. Certainly. 

Mr. FoRAKER. Is it not true that during all this period, when the 
rentals have been increasing in the way the Senator suggests, we have 
in fact, been providing new and additional buildings to accommodate 
the various Departments in the District of Columbia? 

Mr. Scott. A very few of them, I will say to the Senator from 
Ohio. We are erecting near the Capitol a very elaborate building for 
the use of Senators that I think could very readily and very appro- 
priately be adapted to the use of the Department' of Commerce and 
Labor; but I am not taking that position in my argument this 
morning. 

Mr. FoRAKER. I know that constantly from time to time during 
the last ten years I have been voting for appropriations to erect public 
buildings in the District of Columbia. In addition to the building 
mentioned by the Senator, the Post-Office building has been pro- 
vided, and I do not know how many others. We have been provid- 
ing public buildings right along. I do not complain at ah. I merely 
want to get the facts. 

Mr. Scott. If the Senator will bear with me for a few moments, I 
think we will get to that. 

The Government to-day has no difficulty in placing all the bonds 
it desires at an interest rate of 2 per cent. At such a rate the $416,000 
being spent this fiscal year represents an investment of over $20,000,- 
000. .^ With $20,000,000 departmental buildings enough can be 



SITES FOR PUBLIC BUILDINGS IN DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. 5 

erected to house every clerk in Government buildings, and these will 
be a credit and a saving to the United States. And would not such 
an investment be the part of economy? The Government would 
then only be paying a 2 per cent rental and would own in time 
buildings whose rents have paid for themselves. It would have held 
in its own Treasury money which otherwise would have enriched the 
individual. If our Government is to be administered on sound, 
economic principles, this is the only solution. If it is to be admin- 
istered for the benefit of a few in the District of Columbia, the rental 
system should remain as it is, and no further efforts should be made 
to erect buildings in this District for the necessary work of the 
Departments. We should rely on private enterprise and reward it 
with from 5 to 20 per cent interest on its investment. Then we can 
give account of our stewardship to our States and our people and prove 
how we have economically handled the public money for the benefit 
of a few; how we have zealously guarded the revenues against the 
greed of a plain, economical, necessary business proposition. 

For it is a necessary business proposition. I have only stated 
one of the aspects. There is another, and that is the right the 
Government has to require from its employees the highest grade 
of results. Bu,t in securing this there are reciprocal obligations. 
The Government must give the employee all the opportunities, 
all the implements, all the necessities with which to do his best. 
Is the Government living up to its part of the contract? All the 
testimony says no. For it is a declared fact that in the present day 
sanitary and commodious quarters must be furnished clerks to 
secure from them the best work. They must be given room in 
which to turn around. At present halls and stairways are being 
utilized to give clerks space in which to do their work, and when 
they are thus cramped and crowded they are unable to give that 
which should rightly be demanded. 

But is it possible that such a condition as this exists? Are halls 
in crowded buildings absolutely unfitted for the purposes thus used? 
Are heads of Departments asking, clamoring for relief? Have they 
been clamoring for years? Has Congress heeded their appeals? 
The records of each House will show. Shall I illustrate ? 

Take, for example, the Department of Justice. When the old 
building on the corner of Madison place and Pennsylvania avenue 
was torn down, that Department rented the Baltic Building, on K 
street, and also one building on Lafayette square, at the same time 
its library was placed in the Court of Claims building. Two years 
later, in 1901, to reheve the building on Lafayette square, the Depart- 
ment was forced to rent nine rooms in the Bond Building, and later 
the building on Vermont avenue, directly east of the Baltic Building. 
In the same year a building for the Spanish Treaty Claims Commission 
had to be secured. But even tliis was not enough, and two years 
later the Department was obliged to rent the building directly west 
of its main building on K street, and all these are now crowded to 
their utmost limit. 

This situation is bad enough, but it is not the worst. Not only 
is the business of this Department scattered in these various build- 
ings, but it is absolutely at the mercy of the owners. Listen to the 
testimony of Attorney-General Moody, now a justice of the Supreme 



6 SITES FOR PUBLIC BUILDINGS IN DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. 

Court, before a Senate committee two years ago. In answer to a 
question he said: 

Let me give you a rather humiliating example of the position in which we are placed. 
I will not name the particular building. The landlord of one of the buildings which we 
rent, and which we must have, declined to make repairs which, in my judgment, 
under the terms of the tenancy, he was bound to make. I started to be very severe 
with him and insist upon our rights. In substance, he replied: " If you don't like it, 
you can get out," and I had to submit. I could not be turned out upon the streets, 
and therefore I was at his mercy. In the main, I think our landlords have treated us 
with fairness, but as the leases expire of course we are at their mercy upon'the question 
of renewal. 

Now, another illustration, before the same committee at the same 
time, given by Mr. O. J. Field, chief clerk of the Department of Justice. 
In relation to the building occupied by the Spanish Treaty Claims 
Commission he said : 

We leased that building five years ago, for $200 a month for three years. A '1he 
expiration of three years they increased the rent $50 a month for two years. That two 
years' lease expired the 1st of April. They demanded a further increase of $50 a month 
on a six months' lease. We hardly wanted to lease a building for just six months, 
and in endeavoring to reach some compromise proposition for a longer tenancy they 
notified us that they declared all negotiations off a week or ten days before the lease 
expired, and we are hunting around for some place to move the Spanish Treaty Claims 
Commission to on a week's notice. 

As a sequel to this testimony, I can state that *the Department of 
Justice finally compromised with the owners of this building by sign- 
ing another lease for three years at an increase of $50 per month. 

Has any Attorney-General presented this situation to Congress, 
and is this body still ignorant of these conditions? A business man, 
a man of affairs, would think the latter. The people might think 
the same. But for years every Attorney-General of the United States 
has been pleading for relief from these almost unbearable conditions. 
They have appeared before committees; they have, within their 
rights, officially acquainted Congress with this state of affairs. With 
what result ? An effort to fairly meet the , difficulties and remedy 
them in a plain businesslike way? No; but with the stern admoni- 
tion — • 

We are carefully guarding the revenues. Crowd your clerks up a little closer, Mr. 
Attorney-General, and, if necessary, close up windows and utilize halls. We must 
economize. 

Shall I illustrate again? Take, for example, the State Department. 
Thirty years ago it was given the entire south wing of the State, 
War, and Navy building, but encroachments have been made upon 
it for uses of the War and Navy Departments, and at present only 60 
per cent of the room then provided is used by the Department. Has 
the business of that Department increased in the past thirty years? 
Yes; enormously. Thirty years ago, and for a long time after that, 
we were a debtor nation. American capital and American enter- 
prise were engrossed in the development of our own country; there 
was comparatively little foreign travel, and the relations between 
the United States and other countries of the world was largely formal. 
Now we have come to a new era. American enterprise is pushing 
into every country; American construction is going on all over the 
world. American trade, American banking, and great American 
interests are being built up in almost every country on the earth, 
and a very large representation of our 80,000,000 of people is travel- 



SITES FOE PUBLIC BUILDINGS IN DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. 7 

ing all over the world. The enormous activity which has sprung up 
in all of these ways has developed enormous additional labors on the 
State Department, and yet it only has 60 per cent of the space orig- 
inally provided thirty years ago. Secretaries of State have reported 
that their Department is reaching a point where it will be swamped 
for lack of proper organization. Records can not be handled in a 
proper manner because of inadequate space. The Secretary of State 
can not have a private interview with a Senator, a Member of Con- 
gress, a Cabinet officer, a foreign ambassador, minister, or consul, 
because he has no private room. 

Before the Senate committee I referred to a few minutes ago Sec- 
retary of State Root testffied as follows : 

There are a great many Senators and Representatives who come to the State Depart- 
ment with constituents, and what they come for is to introduce the constituents. They 
do not want to waste any time about it. They do not want more than a minute. I 
have no place to see them, because I have just this one room. I may be having an 
important conversation with someone that will take twenty minutes or half an hour. 
In the War Department, as soon as I found there were a number of people in the ante- 
room I would stop the conversation, go out and dispose of the one-minute people, let 
the Senators and Representatives introduce their constituents and go their way. I 
would find a dozen people who would not want a minute. There might be two or 
three who wanted more time, and I would let them wait and take their turn, instead 
of keeping the whole crowd waiting. It is exceedingly inconvenient. It is injurious 
to the public business, and it is very undignified; but I know of no way to cure it, 
because I can not find any room without turning a lot of clerks out-of-doors, whose 
services are absolutely necessary. My private secretary is now in a room away off 
m a corner, a long distance from me. 

Secretary Root further complained that'recently he had the gentle- 
men here who were to go to the Rio conference and that he had to 
give them the diplomatic anteroom and make special arrangements to 
have foreign diplomats remain in their embassies and not visit him 
until after these gentlemen were through with their work. At an- 
other time the Sanitary Congress, under a resolution passed by the 
Second Pan-American Conference, at Mexico, came here, and the only 
thing that he could do was to secure rooms at the Willard Hotel, and 
the same procedure was followed in the case of commissioners from 
China. At another time the arbitrators of the Salvador Commercial 
Company's claim against the Government of Salvador met here. The 
arbitrators needed space for only a few weeks. What should be done 
with them? There was no space in the State Department, none of 
the desirable rooms in the nicer office buildings could be taken for 
less than six' months, so the State Department was compelled to be 
content with securing rooms in the second-rate building, and even 
these were hard to find. As a final example, the Anglo-American 
Joint High Commission was forced to meet in the ordinar}' of the 
Arlington Hotel. 

Mr. President, these are only a few of the many difficulties with 
which the State Department has to contend. It is the one oflicial 
depository of the original acts of Congress, of the original proclama- 
tions of the Presidents, and of the original Executive orders — all of 
the greatest importance, not only to ourselves, but to our posterity. 
And these are all ffied in vaults and cases which are not even fire- 
proof. Wliat recklessness! 

Have not the Secretaries of State presented this situation to Con- 
gress? Is this body still ignorant of these conditions? Again I say, 
a business man and a man of affairs would think the latter; the peo- 



8 SITES FOR PUBLIC BUILDIaSTGS 11^ DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. 

pie might think the same. But for years the Secretaries of State 
have been pleading for relief from these almost intolerable conditions. 
They have appeared before committees; they have, within their rights 
officially acquainted Congress with this state of affairs. With what 
result? An effort to fairly meet the difficulties and remedy them in 
a plain businesslike way? No. And, as in the case with the Depart- 
ment of Justice, they are met with the stern admonition: 

We are carefully guarding the reserves. What difference does it make if you have 
all the files since the foundation of the Government, since 1789, stowed away in non- 
fireproof cases? What difference does it make if you have many valuable and confi- 
dential papers relating to prosecutions and matters of all kinds? What difference 
does it make if you have diplomatic correspondence which could not be replaced? 
What difference does it make if the vaults and cases are not fireproof? Papers massed 
in a bunch will not burn: only the edges will be charred; fire dies out for lack of 
oxygen, you know. And it will not make much difference anyway; get new files; 
get new diplomatic documents; crowd up your clerks; close up your windows and 
utilize halls. We must economize. 

Shall I illustrate again? Then take, for example, the Depart- 
ment of Commerce and Labor. It is scattered over a large portion 
of the business center of the city. Part of it is in the Willard Build- 
ing, on Fourteenth street; another part of it in the Emory Building, 
at First and B streets NW.; another part of it in the National Safe 
Deposit Building, New York avenue and Fifteenth street; another 
part of it in the Builders' Exchange Building, on Thirteenth street; 
another part in the Adams Building, on F street, between Thirteenth 
and Fourteenth streets; another part in the Munsey Building, north 
side of E, between Thirteenth and Fourteenth streets; still another 
part on E street, between Ninth and Tenth, and the Department is 
asking for additional quarters. Think of it! This Department is 
distributed over a distance of a mile and a half long east and west 
and about one-third of a mile north and south. This Department 
is a new one, and its needs are more patent than some of the others. 

Have not Secretaries of Commerce and Labor presented this situa- 
tion to Congress ? And is this body still ignorant of these conditions ? 
A business man, a man of affairs, would think the latter; the people 
might think the same. But since the establishment of this Depart- 
ment each Secretarj^ has been pleading for relief from these almost 
unbearable conditions. They have appeared before committees; 
they have, within their rights, officially acquainted Congress with this 
state of affairs. With what result? An effort to fairly meet the 
difficulties and remedy them in a plain, businesslike way ? No. But 
with the stern admonition : 

We are carefully guarding the revenues. In that section of the city, a mile and a 
half long east and west and one-third of a mile north and south, you must have many 
windows and hallways. Close up some of your windows and utilize your hallways; 
crowd your clerks up a little closer, Mr. Secretary of Commerce and Labor. We must 
economize. 

Similar conditions, of course in a less degree of intensity, exist in 
other Departments which have been housed for years in homes of 
their own. The Senate Committee on Public Buildings and Grounds 
during the last Congress and during this session, too, took up this 
situation and tried to find a remedy. It made a favorable 
report on the proposition for buying the squares of ground lying 
between Fourteenth and Fifteenth streets, Pennsylvania avenue, and 
D street NW., as a site on which departmental buildings could be 



SITES FOE PUBLIC BUILDINGS IN DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. 9 

erected. These buildings were to house the Departments of State, 
Justice, and Commerce and Labor. This site was selected, since there 
seem to be the strongest of reasons why two of these Departments 
should be within a short distance of the White House. I refer to the 
Department of State and the Department of Justice. The heads of 
these two Departments of the Government are more often called by 
the President to the White House than are any other members of his 
official family, and the length of their absence from the offices would 
thereby be reduced to a minimum. This site was also selected on 
account of its size. Owing to the fact that these buildings were to be 
near the White House it was obvious that the Treasury Department 
should not be dwarfed, and the general architectural plan called for 
structures of four or five stories only. In no other section near the 
White House could these requisites be met. In addition, the selec- 
tion of this site was in the general line of the proposed parking system, 
having in view the most economical beautifying of the city — the car- 
rying out of the plans of the founders. 

At the time the committee had a rough estimate of the cost of such 
buildings made. A building which would supply all the present wants 
of the Department of Commerce and Labor, allow for a one-third 
increase in that Department, and still give room for the Interstate 
Commerce Commission, could be erected, in round numbers, for 
$5,000,000. This building would be granite faced, of modern type, 
four stories and basement. A building sufficient to house the Depart- 
ment of State and the Department of Justice could be erected, in 
round numbers, for 12,000,000, making a total of $7,000,000, exclu- 
sive of site. It is only a question of time until the Government will 
have to own this property anjdiow in order to carry out its parking- 
schemes, and for the time being the cost of the site could be left out 
of consideration. 

Let us see if from a financial standpoint this would be a business- 
like proposition. What are the savings in rent ? During the present 
fiscal year the State Department pays out in rent $3,580; the Depart- 
ment of Commerce and Labor, $60,049.80 ; the Department of Justice, 
$28,200; the Interstate Commerce Commission, $29,160; a total of 
$110,489. With the State Department moved from its present quar- 
ters into a new building, the rent of the Mills Building and some other 
buildings used by the War and Navy Departments could be saved 
and run this total up to at least $140,000—2 per cent of $7,000,000. 
But in a late annual report of the Secretary of Commerce and Labor 
he says the assembling of the bureaus and offices of the Department 
under one roof would result in a saving in the cost of administration, 
on a very conservative estimate, of at least $66,000 per year. I am 
informed that at least $50,000 could be saved in a similar manner in 
the Department of Justice. These savings added to the amount paid 
for rent would bring the total of savings in these two buildings up to 
$256,000, a 2 per cent rate of interest on $12,800,000. 

Is not that a fair, businesslike statement? Would it not be true 
economy to begin at once the erection of these buikh'ngs? 

Another condition confronts us, and that is that the buiklings now 
occupied by the various Departments are all crowded, and each Secre- 
tary is calling for more space. Some day this condition will have to 
be met and several other buildings erected in the District of Columbia. 
Those just mentioned would take care of three Departments and would 



10 SITES FOR PUBLIC BUILDINGS IN DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. 

relieve the War and Navy Departments of the crowded condition 
which exists in their buildings. The Government at present owns 
the corner lot across Pennsylvania avenue from the Treasury building. 
The purchase of the Arlington Insurance Company Building and the 
Belasco Theater would give the Government a fine site on which could 
be erected a handsome four-story Auditors' office. Such a building 
as this would relieve at once the Treasury Department of its conges- 
tion. Forty-three per cent of the floor space in the Treasury Depart- 
ment is occupied by Auditors' offices. These auditors do not neces- 
sarily come in contact with the Secretary or his assistants every day, 
while in the purely Treasury work of the Department the heads of 
bureaus are constantly being called into consultation with the Secre- 
tary or his assistants. The location of such a building on Pennsyl- 
vania avenue would at once put the auditors in the different Depart- 
ments together, give more room in the Treasury Department, and 
relieve the Post-Office Department of some of its congestion. 

To still further relieve the congestion in the Post-Office Depart- 
ment a new postal workshop should be erected at the Union Station. 
Here all mails could be handled promptly, carriers could start their 
deliveries from this point, and the objects of a fast mail service 
absolutely obtained. It is the veriest nonsense to run fast mail 
trains from New York to Washington and then have forty-five 
minutes wasted in carrying mail from the Union Station to the 
present post-office building. Other cities have seen the necessity 
of a post-office which is a workshop, and are already clamoring for 
such an improvement. With this addition the Post-Office Depart- 
ment would have the space it needs. 

For years a new building for the Bureau of Printing and Engraving 
has been needed. In the last Congress the necessity was realized 
and the Secretary of the Treasury was authorized to prepare a plan. 
He has found the most deplorable overcrowding of men and women 
in every part of the building. He has found that it was necessary 
to work a part of the force beyond regular hours, and a considerable 
part of the men and women at night. Should Congress provide by 
new legislation for increased issues of notes, it would be necessary to 
resume this overtime work. The Secretary of the Treasury has 
made his recommendations and they are worthy of consideration, 
and I understand they are to be adopted. I shall offer no objections. 
I am only too glad to see the needs met. But I think the Bureau of 
Printing and Engraving should be a workshop — it is merely an estab- 
lishment where money is manufactured. It should be located where 
it could have railroad facilities, and as much as possible of the work 
should be done on the ground floor. This could be accomplished by 
securing a cheap site near one of the railroads and erecting a modern 
manufacturing plant. All the heavy machinery could then be on the 
first floor, instead of running up into the air five or six stories, as it 
does in the present building. Such a structure would not need to be 
a granite Government building, but simply a substantial, handsome, 
brick, manufacturing establishment. With the Bureau of Printing 
and Engraving located along the railroad where it could haA'-e switch- 
ing and other facilities, the Treasury Department could be relieved 
of a great expense in the hauling of paper to and fro, checking up^ 
weighing, etc. All this could be done at the Bureau of Printing and 
Engraving, and one hauling would be sufficient. But, as I stated 



SITES FOR PUBLIC BUILDINGS IN DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. 11 

before, I understand the present building is to be enlarged, and when 
the matter comes before the Senate I shall offer no opposition further 
than to repeat these views. 

I had thought that with the Bureau of Printing and Engraving housed 
in such an establishment as this, the present building could be used 
as a hall of records, since such a structure is badly needed. But a 
new building for such a hall can be erected for $2,000,000, and no 
Senator can for a moment oppose its erection on a plea of no necessity. 

One more building is needed, that for the Geological Survey. Its 
necessity has been shown before numerous committees on numerous 
occasions. I feel that I am within the limits of reason when I say 
that $20,000,000, the amount on which the Government is now pay- 
ing a 2 per cent rate of interest in rent, would more than erect and 
equip these buildings. . It would even go far enough, in my opinion, 
to build a separate structure for the Census Bureau, though that is 
taken care of in the rough estimates of the Commerce and Labor 
building spoken of before, 136,000 square feet space being given to it. 
The erection of a building for the Census Bureau is a mere matter of 
opinion. Each ten years a large number of clerks will be employed 
for a couple of years and then the Bureau will drop to its normal size 
of a few hundred clerks. This is the one Bureau of the Government 
that contracts and expands. The space used at its greatest expan- 
sion could be temporarily occupied during the period of greatest 
contraction, and it is six of one and half a dozen of another whether 
it is in a Department building or in a structure by itself. 

To erect such buildings, it seems to me, is the plan which a business 
man would follow and which I think the Federal Government should 
adopt. In making an estimate of the savings to the Government, 
I have only given the figures for rent. But there are other savings 
on which I have only touched — I mean savings in administration. 
As before stated, the Department of Commerce and Labor estimates 
tliis saving at $66,000 per year, the Department of Justice at $50,000, 
and I am informed the Bureau of Printing and Engraving can save 
at least $20,000. In the other Departments a similar administrative 
saving could be accomplished by placing all bureaus and offices under 
one roof; but I have been imable to secure figures that would be of 
any value. It is fair, however, to estimate that the saving would be 
in the same proportion as in the two Departments and one Bureau 
from which I have received estimates. To be perfecth^ fair, I should 
state that the total rent figures which I have presented include the 
rent of certain buildings in the District used for school purposes — 
buildings which properly should not come ^^^thin the scope of my 
remarks. The figures also include rent for stables and $65,000 used 
by the Agricultural Department this year, but which may not be 
needed hereafter. These amounts, though, are easily- covered by the 
saving in administration in the other Departments not mentioned. 
At this point I desire to present a list of all buildings in the District 
of Columbia rented by the Government and the amounts paid for 
each. This statement is prepared yearly, as required by the act of 
July 16, 1892. I will not read it, but ask that it may be appended 
to my remarks in tabular form. [See appendix.] 

Having thus covered the situation, I desire to emphasize my 
original statement that all the Departments and bureaus of th-e 
Government now located in rented buildings can be housed in 



12 SITES FOR PUBLIC BUILDINGS IN DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. 

buildings owned by the Government at a rental rate of 2 per cent 
per annum until the said buildings are paid for. To do this, I desire 
to give estimates showing what such structures would cost. These 
estimates are in the rough, but approximate the actual cost. Money 
would be needed as follows: 

Commerce and Labor .- $5, 000, 000 

Justice and State 2, 000, 000 

Hall of Records 2, 000, 000 

Auditor's offices 1, 500, 000 

Bureau of Printing and Engraving 2, 150, 000 

Post-office workshop 800, 000 

Census building 350, 000 



Total 13, 800, 000 

This cost is estimated exclusive of site. But, as I stated before, the 
sites of a number of these buildings will have to be purchased by the 
Government at some future date for parking purposes, so their cost 
should not really be counted on. But, allowing for the cost of sites, 
$6,000,000 would more than buy all the land needed for each one of 
these buildings, and then we have a $20,000,000 investment, on which 
amount the present rental would pay 2 percent. The twenty millions 
easily covers any increase of cost of any of the buildings, for six mil- 
lions will not be needed in the purchase of sites. 

But this is not all. Two Departments and one bureau have given 
rough estimates of saving in administration — a total of $136,000. 
Add this to the amount paid out in rent, and we have a total expense 
during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1908, of $652,000. This, Mr. 
President, is a 2 per cent interest rate on $32,600,000. Should we 
hesitate ? 

But even this is not all. Washington is a beautiful city. In 
travels which have extended almost around the earth I have seen 
none more beautiful. Americans are proud of it, and they come 
here from all over our broad country. They travel up and down 
our streets and feel that they have a part in every public building 
or park they see. And the American likes a handsome public struc- 
ture. He is proud of the Congressional Library, for example, and 
would be pleased with more buildings of a similar order. He likes 
to see beautiful parks — he is proud of them. I do not believe that a 
dollar of money which has ever been expended in buildings needed 
for the Government work, even in beautifying the city, has been 
criticised by the taxpayers of the United States. The visitors return 
to their homes and tell their friends and neighbors of the beauties of 
the Capital City, of the handsome buildings that our country has 
erected, of the commodious quarters in which some of our clerks are 
housed. 

But if they happen in their sight-seeing cars to pass, for instance, 
the Department of Justice, what a beautiful prospect is presented! 
What a magnificent building is pointed out as the home of the Spanish 
Treaty Claims Commission! What magnificent quarters as part of 
the workshop of the Department of Commerce and Labor! Do you 
not think that these Americans go back home and tell their friends 
all about this? They draw comparison between these Depart- 
ments and the other Departments, which are housed in beautiful and 
commodious buildings. And those comparisons are not to our credit. 



SITES FOE PUBLIC BUILDINGS IjST DISTEICT OF COLUMBIA. 13 

As I stated before, I do not believe that the expenditure of a single 
dollar for the city of Washington in order to beautify the capital of 
the nation and erect its workshops has ever been criticised by an 
American taxpayer or an American voter. I do not believe that 
if to-day the Congress of the United States was to pass a bill appro- 
priating even $32,000,000 for the purchase of sites and the erection 
of buildings to complete the plans I have detailed above there would 
be a dissenting voice raised in the United States. I do not believe 
there would be one criticism from any paper in the United States. 
On the other hand, I think it would be one of the most popular 
measures ever passed by Congress and one that would be met with 
the heartiest approval everywhere. 

I have tried, Mr. President, to give this question to the Senate as 
a business proposition. I have shown how the Government's needs 
can be more economically met in the District of Columbia. I have 
shown the true economy of the situation. I have shown the humili- 
ating positions in which heads of Departments have been placed by 
landlords and by being forced to invite diplomatic representatives 
of other governments not to call. I have shown the almost intoler- 
able conditions that exist in rented quarters and in buildings now 
owned by the Government — conditions that any Senator can examine 
into himself. I have shown how buildings are absolutely demanded 
and required. In face of all these facts, I now ask for simple justice 
to heads of Departments, clerks from whom the best service should 
be expected, and the people, whose money should be expended in 
the most economical manner. Shall this state of affairs continue? 
Shall we still hear the self-deluding, the self-satisfying cry of "We 
must economize?" 



APPENDIX. 



Statement of buildings and rooms rented v/ithin the District of Columbia for the use of 
the Government, as required by the act of July 16, 1892 {27 Stat., p. 199), for the fiscal 
year ending June SO, 1908. 



STATE DEPARTMENT. 



Location of building or rooms. 


For what purpose used. 


Annual 
rental. 


No. 1518 L street NW . 


Stables for State Department . 


$720 00 


No. 522 Seventeenth street NW 


Offices of State Department 


2, 860. 00 








Total 


3, 580. 00 









TREASURY DEPARTMENT. 



No. 1709 New York avenue NW. 



No. 400 Nineteenth street N W 

Third and fourth floors and two sections on 

fifth floor, Nos. 920 and 922 E street NW. 
Third floor and one room on fourth floor, Star 

Building, Eleventh street and Pennsylvania 

avenue NW. 
Sixth floor and north half of fifth floor. Union 

Building, G street between Sixth and Sev- 
enth streets NW. 
Rooms 701 to 727, inclusive, seventh floor, and 

rooms 816, 817, 820, 821, 822, 823, 824, and 825, 

eighth floor, Munsey Building. 



Total. 



Photograph gallery and storage of docu 
ments and records. 

Treasury stables 

Storage of documents and records 

Offices Life-Saving Service '.. 



Offices Auditor for the Post-Offlce Depart- 
ment. 

Offices Auditor for the Navy Department . 



$2,500.00 

1,200.00 
8,000.00 

3,936.00 
10,250.00 
11,260.00 



37,146.00 



WAR DEPARTMENT. 



No. 1729 New - York avenue NW. (Lemon 

Building). 
No. 532 Seventeenth street NW 



No. 1744 G street NW. 



No. 610 Seventeenth street NW 

No. 1720 H street NW 

No. 1800 F street NW 

No. 1712 G street NW 

Nos. 920 and 922 E street N W. ; section A , fifth 
story, and a section of office on first floor. 



Total. 



War Department 

Depot Quartermaster and Branch of Gen- 
eral Staff. 

Signal Office, Board of Ordnance and For- 
tification, one Army Board, and two 
storerooms for Secretary's Office. 

The Adjutant-General's Office 

Medical Dispensary 

Bureau of Insular Affairs 

The Adjutant- General's Office. , 

Bureau of Insular Affairs , 



$7,200.00 
2,500.00 
2,500.00 

1,500.00 

1,000.00 

720. 00 

800.00 

1,500.00 



17,720.00 



NAVY DEPARTMENT. 



Mills Building, corner of Pennsylvania avenue 
and Seventeenth street NW." 



14 



Annex for the purposes of the various bu- 
reaus Hydrographic Office, Naval Dis- 
pensary, Navy Pay Office, Headquarters 
United States Marine Corps, General 
Board, Board of Inspection and Survey, 
and the Naval Examining and Retiring 
Board. 



4,500.00 



SITES FOR PUBLIC BUILDIZSTGS IN DISTEICT OF COLUMBIA. 



15 



Statement of buildings and rooms rented ivithin the District of Columbia for the use of 
the Government, as required by the act of July 16, 1892 {27 Stat., p. 199), for the fiscal 
year ending June. SO, 1908 — Continued. 



DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR. 



Location of building or rooms. 


For what purpose used. 


Annual 
rental. 


Eighth and E streets N W 




(a) 


Comer of Eighth and G streets N W 


Bureau of Education. 


$4. 000. 00 


Hooe Building, F street NW 




28.500.00 


Buildings on alley, rear of Hooe Building 


.do " ... . . .. 


6,400.00 


Union Building, south half basement floor 

Union building, G street NW 


Storage of docimients 

Patent office model exhibit. 


(a) 
(a) 


Washington Building Company's building, 
comer Twelfth and G streets NW. 

Ouray Building, Eighth and G streets NW., 
11 rooms on 7th floor. (Until January 1, 
1908.) 




8, COO. 00 


General Land Office (reproduction of Cali- 
fornia records). 


3,240.00 


Total 


50, 140. 00 







POST-OFFICE DEPARTMENT. 



Union Building, G street between Sixth and 
Seventh streets NW. 

No. 1413 F street NW 

Fourth and East Capitol streets 

No. 716 Four-and-a-half street SW 

No. 1413 Park street 

No. 11 Harrison street (A.nacostia) 

Twenty-fourth street NE., between Charming 
and Douglas streets (Langdon). 

Michigan avenue and Ninth street N E.( Brook- 
land ) . 

Carroll avenue and Blair road (Takoma Park) . 

Anaeostia avenue and Benning road (Benning) 

First and K streets NE 



Station G, city post-oflice 6c $3, 500. 00 



Station C, city post-office. 
Station B, city post-office. 
Station D, city post-office. 
Station F, city post-office. 
Station H, city post-office. 
Station K, city post-office. 



Brookland station, city post-office. 



Nos. 918-920 E street NW 

Alley between L and M, Sixteenth and Seven- 
teenth streets NW. 

AUey adjoining First and K streets NE 

1422 F street NW 



Takoma Park station, city post-office 

Benning station, city post-office 

Mail bag repair shop; mail lock repair shop; 
division of supplies; division of equip- 
ment; division of stamps; division of 
topography; di'snsion of redemption, and 
office superintendent third division, rail- 
way mail ser\ice. 

Storage of files 

Stable 

do 

Temporary quarters, special record of mail 
matter. 



Total i 50,090.00 



b 2, 000. 00 
6 2,000.00 
b 850. 00 
6(21,380.00 
6 d 300. 00 
6 d 200. 00 

6 d 200. 00 

6 d 360. CO 

6 d 200. 00 

6 32,000.00 



4 3,000.00 
300.00 



200. 00 
6 « 3,600.00 



DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



No. 1362 B street SW. 



No. 1358 B street SW 

Munsey Building 

No. 902 Pennsvl vania avenue NW 

No. 1228 C street SW 

Nos. 1304-1306 B street SW 

No. 1308 B street SW 

No. 201 Thirteenth street SW 

No. 224 Twelfth street SW 

No. 203 Thirteenth street S W 

No. 205 Thirteenth street S W 

No. 207 Thirteenth street SW 

No. 207>Ts Thirteenth street SW 

No. 209 Thirteenth street S W 

No. 237 Fourteenth street SW 

No. 1310 B street S W 

No. 1224 B street SW 

No. 1226 B street SW 

No. 1316 B street SW 

No. 221 Linwood place S W 

Atlantic Building, 9.30 F street NW 

Ouray Building, Eighth and G streets NW . 
No. 1520 Pennsylvania avenue SE 



Bureau of Animal Industry; laboratories 
and offices. 

Bureau of Animal Industry, offices 

do 

do 

Bureau of Animal Industry, stable 

Bureau of I'lant Industry, offices 

do ■ 



.do. 
.do. 
.do. 
.do. 
.do. 
.do. 
.do. 
.do. 
.do. 
.do. 
-do. 
.do. 



Bureau of Plant Industry (seed building). 

Forest Service, offices 

....do 

Forest Service, wood-testing laboratories. 



,800.00 

750.00 
520. 00 
240. 00 
144. 00 
000.00 
300.00 
300. CO 
000. CO 
420. CO 
420. CO 
420. CO 
420.00 
420.00 
120.00 
180.00 
450.00 
450.00 
500.00 
000.00 
043.00 
428.00 
000.00 



a No lease signed. 6 Paid out of appropriation for postal eervi 

« Including equipment and heat. i^ Including heating and lights, 

e Including heat, lights, elevator, and janitor service. 



16 



SITES FOR PUBLIC BUILDINGS IN DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. 



Statement of buildings and rooms rented ivithin the District of Columbia for the use of 
the Government, as required by the act of July 16, 1892 {27 Stat., p. 199), for the fiscal 
year ending June SO, 1908 — Continued. 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE— Continued. 



Location of building or rooms. 


For what purpose used. 


Aimual 
rental. 


Rear of 913 E street N W 1 Forest Servine. storage nurooses 


$270. 00 


Rear of 922 and 924 F street NW 


do : 


270. 00 


No 928 Baptist alley NW 


.do 


120. 00 


Nos. 202-204 Fourteenth street SW 

No. 206 Fourteenth street SW 


Bureau of Chemistry, laboratories and 

offices. 

Bureau of Chemistry, storage rooms 

Bureau of Chemistry, office and storage 

rooms. 


2, 500. 00 
300. 00 


No. 207 Linwood place S W 


300. 00 


No. 300 Fourteenth street SW. (two apart- 
ments) . 

No. 300 Fourteenth street SW. (one apart- 
ment) . 

Nos. 208-210 Fourteenth street SW. 


600.00 


do 


300. 00 


Bureau of Soils, laboratories and offices 

do 


2, 600. 00 


Nos 212 214 Thirteenth street SW 


1, 320. 00 


No. 904 B street SW 


Bureau of Entomology, offices 

Division of Publications, document rooms . 

Division of Publications, storage rooms 

Ofiice of Public Roads, offices 


720. 00 


No. 215 Thirteenth street SW 

No. 916 Pennsylvania avenue NW. . 


5,000.00 
60.00 


No. 237 Fourteenth street SW 


1,880.00 


Lot 27, square 231, SW. . ... ... 


Office of Public Roads, stable 


120. 00 


No. 1120 Virginia avenue S W 


Office of Experiment Stations, offices 


1,000.00 
300. 00 








Total 


65, 705. 00 









DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE AND LABOR. 



WUlard Building, 513-515 Fourteenth street 
NW. 

Emery Building, northwest corner First and 
B streets NW. 

204-206 Fourteenth street NW 

National Safe Deposit Building, corner New 
York avenue and Fifteenth street (in part) . 

Builder's Exchange Building, 719-721 Thir- 
teenth street NW. (in part). 

Adams Building, 1333-1335 F street NW. (in 
pan). 

Munsey Building, north side of E street, be- 
tween Thirteenth and Fourteenth streets 
NW. (in part). 

1137-1139 Seventeenth street NW 

920-922 E street NW. (in part) a 



National Safe Deposit Building, corner New 
York avenue and Fifteenth street (in part) a 



Total. 



Main Bmlding of Department 

Bureau of the Census 

Bureau of the Census (storage) 

Bureau of Labor 

Light-House Board, Steamboat-Inspection 

Ser\ace, Bureau of Navigation. 
Bureau of Statistics. 

Division of Naturalization 



Stables 

Storage of records of the Light-House 

Board. 
Storage of records of the Bureau of Labor . 



DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE. 



No. 1000 Vermont avenue, 


For records, offices, and business of the De- 
partment. 
do 




No. 1435 K street N W 


$6,500.00 
10,000.00 


No. 8 Jackson place 


do 


2j 100.00 


No. 6 Jackson place 


do. . . . . . 


1,800.00 


Bond Building, Fourteenth and New York 


do 


1,800.00 


avenue; rooms 708 and 717, inclusive. 
No. 1439 K street NW 


do 


2,400.00 


No. 1411 H street NW 


For the records, offices, and business of the 
Spanish Claims Commission.. 


3,600.00 




Total 


28,200.00 







DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. 



District building 

Police station, Anacostia, D. C 

Stable for health department, 219-221 Jackson 

Hall alley. 
Vault in premises Nos. 228-232 First street N W 



Executive and miscellaneous ! $9, 000. 00 



.do. 
.do. 



.do. 



a Paid from the appropriation "Contingent expenses, Department of Commerce and Labor." 



SITES FOE PUBLIC BUILDHSTGS IN DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. 



17 



Statement of buildings and rooms rented -within the District of Columbia for the use of 
the Government, as required by the act of July 16, 1892 {27 Stat., p. 199% for the fiscal 
year ending June SO, 1908 — Continued. 



DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA— Continued. 



Location of building or rooms. 




Annual 
rental. 



Police department, 470 Louisiana avenue NW. . Executive and miscellaneous. 

Harper Building, 467 C street NA¥., four rooms do. 

House of Detention, 505 Eighteenth street j do . 

Premises rear 458 Louisiana avenue NW do . 



Premises rear 921 D street NW 

Columbian Building, insurance department, 

5 rooms. 

Columbian Building, corporation counsel 

Temporary Home ex-tJnion Soldiers and 

Sailors, No. 106 Third street NW. i 

No. 468 Louisiana avenue N W. , 2 rooms i do 

Property yard, lot 4, square 775 do 

Room rear 419 Third street NW I do 

No. 1816 F street NW. i do 

No. 472 Louisiana avenue, Gunton Building, 5 do 

rooms. 



$2, 



400.00 
360.00 
900.00 
120.00 
240.00 
840.00 

,000.00 
600.00 

300. 00 

18.23 

48.00 

240.00 

540.00 



Total executive and miscellaneous L.r. 18, 046. 23 



Miner Building, Seventh and Church streets i Public schools 2, 500. 00 

NV/. 

Nos. 607-609 O street NW j do 912.00 

Nos. 624-626 O street NW I do 1,450.00 

N. E. Industrial School, comer Eighth and I i do 900.00 

streets NE. I 

Peabodv Annex, 646 Massachusetts avenue NE ' do 696. 00 

Repair shop, Nos. 11 and 13 D street NW. (2 1 do ISO. 00 

months). 

Premises Bunker Hill road, between Eighth do 300.00 

and Ninth streets NE. 

No. 730 Twenty-fourth street N W , do 720. 00 

Masonic Temple, Anacostia, D. C, 2 rooms ...i do 440.00 

No. 494 Maryland avenue SW., 2 rooms I do ' 360.00 

No. 212 H street NW., second floor do ; : 840.00 

Garfield Hall, Garfield, D. C do .360. 00 

Np. 1017 Twelfth street N W do ; 1 , 200. 00 

Premises southeast cor. Brightwood ave. and ; do I 300.00 

Longfello%v street, 1 room. 

Israel Baptist Church, assembly hall do 1 360.00 

People's Seventh Day Adventist Church, 2 do 540.00 

rooms. ' ' 

No. 102 Fen wick street NE ' do 144. 00 

Contee's African Methodist Episcopal Church, do 1.50. 00 

Burrville, D. C. 

No. 1129 G street NE., 3 rooms do 300.00 

No. 2801 N street N W do 600. 00 

No. 4724 Sheriff road do 150. 00 

No. 533 Twelfth street SE , do ! 1 , 200. 00 

Emanuel Baptist Church, Garfield, D. C ' do i 240.00 

No. 1606 M street NW., banquet hall ' do .300.00 

Langdon Hall, Langdon, D. C ! do i 180.00 

Chapel, St. Luke's P. E. Church, Fifteenth do..: 300. OC 

and Church streets NW. 

Lincoln Memorial Chapel, Sixth and Trumbull do 300. 00 

streets. 

Lincoln Temple Congregational Church, Elev- do 300. 00 

enth and R streets NW. 

Samaritan Temple, First, between Second and do 525. 00 

Third streets SW., 2 rooms. 

No. 1338 H street NE do 300.00 

No. 1120 Twentieth street NW do 318.00 



Total for public schools , 17,285.00 



National Guard Armory, Center Market 

No." 902 Pennsylvania avenue NW., third and 
• fourth floors. 

True Reformers Building, Twelfth and U 
streets NW., basement and office rooms. 

-Vrmory, 1406 D street NW 

Rooms in Evening Star Building 

Rifle Range, Hiflsdale, D. C 



Total for militia, District of Columbia. . 

Grand total of rent for the District of 
Columbia. 



Militia, District of Columbia 
do 



.do. 

.do. 
-do. 
.do. 



8.000.00 
1,000.00 

1.500.00 

1 , 200. 00 

J. 100. 00 

550. 00 



49,331.23 



S. Doc. 432. 60-1- 




18 SITES FOR PUBLIC BUILDINGS IN DISTRICT C 

014 443 695 7 

Statement of buildings and rooms rented within the District of v,^^,™™^^. „„„ ^^ ^ 
the Government, as required by the act of July 16, 1892 {27 Stat, p. 199), for the fiscal 
year ending June 30, 1908 — Continued. 

INTERSTATE COMMERCE COMMISSION. 



Location of building or rooms. 



For what purpose used. 



rental. 



No. 1317 F street, American Bank Building, 
third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, 
and ninth floors, five rooms on the second 
floor and one room on the first floor; also 
the entire cellar (including heating, elevator, 
and water service) . 

No. 1311 G street, Epiphany Building, two 
rooms on the third floor, three rooms on the 
second floor, and three rooms in basement 
(including heating, elevator, and water 
service) . 

No. 1309 G street, third, fourth, fifth, and 
sixth floors (including heating, elevator, and 
water service) . 

Basement of building No. 1334 F street 



Interstate Commerce Commission. 



.do. 



.do. 
.do. 



$18,660.00 

3,300.00 

6,000.00 
1,200.00 



Total , -. 29j,160.00 



RECAPITULATION. 



Department. 


Amount. 


Department. 


Amount. 




$3,580.00 
37, 146. 00 
17, 720. Of; 
24, 500. 00 
50,140.00 
50,090.00 
65,705.00 


Department of Commerce and Labor. 

Department of Justice 

District of Columbia ^ 

Interstate Commerce Commission 

Total 


$60,049.80 


Treasury Department 


28,-200.00 




49,331.23 


Navy Department 


29,160.00 








415,622.03 


Department of Agriculture 











o 



'mill nil 



Conscrvatioii Reaources 
r Jo-ewa^ t«u> I 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 




014 443 695 7 ^ 



